Phoenix-area communities over the past several years have increased their efforts to make their streets bicycle friendly.

A number of plans have been created or revised, including the City of Phoenix Master Bicycle Plan in 2014, the City of Tempe Transportation Master Plan in 2015 and the City of Scottsdale Transportation Master Plan in 2016.

Other jurisdictions, such as Glendale and Maricopa County, are revising their plans, last made in 2008 and 1999, respectively.

Plans and reality on the streets can be very different, however.

For Bob Beane, president of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists, a statewide advocacy group for bicyclists, “My biggest issue with plans such as Phoenix and Arizona Department of Transportation is not usually the content, but rather the commitment to implement.”

That’s not to say Beane doesn’t support bicycles being a focal point in plans. He calls attention to potential pedestrian and bicycle bridges over Interstates 10 and 17 in the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Spine Study.

And not all plans are similar, as attested by the ranking system devised by the League of American Bicyclists, the national advocacy organization for bicycles.

The league’s Bike Friendly America program lets universities, businesses and communities apply to be recognized as bike-friendly. Rankings range from bronze to diamond.

Cities are judged on their capacities in engineering a bicycle network, teaching bicycle skills, encouraging bicycle culture, enforcing bicycle laws and evaluating and planning targets. Not every city that applies gets a ranking from the league, and the rankings must be renewed every four years.

So what does bicycle infrastructure look like across the Valley? Here’s a snapshot of it in Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale and Glendale.

Phoenix

Phoenix has 713 miles of bicycle facilities; 596 are on-street bike lanes. It is currently ranked bronze by the League of American Bicyclists.

With the passage of Proposition 104 in 2015, Phoenix raised the local sales tax from 0.4 percent to 0.7 percent to fund a $35.1 billion transit plan called Transportation 2050.

Among Transportation 2050’s goals is an ambitious 1,080 miles of new bike lanes, which will be implemented at the recommendation of the Phoenix Citizens’ Transportation Commission.

Signs mark the new bike lane on Jefferson Street in July 2017. In an effort to make downtown Phoenix more bike-friendly, bike lanes were installed on both Adams and Jefferson streets between 19th and 27th avenues.(Photo: Sam Caravana/The Republic)

Among advocates, Phoenix has a mixed reputation.

“Phoenix is a bit of Jekyll and Hyde situation. I happen to live in Ahwatukee and, on the whole, you have wider lanes in a number of areas,” says Beane of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. “In the newer areas of Phoenix, I think they have done a lot of the same infrastructure build as the other East Valley cities have.

But one challenge in Phoenix is some streets are already narrow with little room to expand without encroaching on buildings, he says.

Meanwhile, a significant number of the projects in the 2014 Phoenix Bicycle Plan are in development, such as the street redesign on Third and Fifth avenues.

Additionally, the Grand Canal project is supposed to break ground in the coming months and add to the extensive network of shared-use paths along the canals across multiple cities.

“Of all of these projects, the Grand Canal has the most amount of infrastructure work and the most amount of transformation potential,” says Joseph Perez, Phoenix’s bicycle coordinator.

However, projects that have threatened to remove a lane of automotive traffic have faced stiff resistance.

A proposal to remove a lane from Missouri Avenue from 19th Avenue to 24th Street spawned a lively debate on the neighborhood-focused social-media network Nextdoor between residents who said removing a lane would make already-packed rush-hour traffic even worse and others who wanted to make the street more bicycle friendly.

Tempe

Tempe boasts 175 miles of bicycle facilities and a gold rating with the League of American Bicyclists. Of those miles, 52 percent are bicycle lanes, which people think of as the classic bicycle infrastructure.

In 2016, Tempe passed several bonds, including one aiming to raise $25 million for street improvements that could help fund additional bike lanes.

Like most municipalities, though, Tempe relies on a variety of sources to fund improvements.

“We get a combination of local and regional funds. A lot of times we get federal grants. It depends on the project. We have been pretty successful in getting grant moneys for a lot of these projects,” says Amanda Nelson, Tempe public information officer.

Tempe also has some of the few buffered bike lanes within the Phoenix metro area. Buffered bike lanes are separated from automotive traffic either through a larger paint barrier or even vertical poles that can provide bicyclists with a greater sense of security.

“We have a variety of types of facilities to meet the different skill levels and different needs and different comfort levels of bicyclists in the community. So the off-street multimodal paths, as one example, are a place where we are really separating bikes from automotive,” Nelson says.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Cars have to maneuver around a bicyclist and then cross over the bike lane to make a right turn near at McClintock Drive and Broadway Road on Nov. 17, 2016 in Tempe, Ariz. Rob Schumacher / The Republic

This bike lane replaced one lane of motor vehicle traffic on McClintock Drive at Broadway Road on Nov. 17, 2016, in Tempe. The city restriped portions of McClintock Drive to add bicycle lanes in July 2015. Rob Schumacher / The Republic

Lane barriers separate bikes lanes from car traffic on the southbound side of McClintock Drive near the U.S. 60 on Nov. 7, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. Tempe restriped portions of McClintock Drive to add bicycle lanes in July 2015. Since then, some residents have complained about traffic on the busy road. David Kadlubowski /The Republic

Lane barriers separate bikes lanes from car traffic on the southbound side of McClintock Drive near the U.S. 60 on Nov. 7, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. Tempe's long-range transportation plan includes a major commitment to promoting bicycling as an alternative mode of transportation. David Kadlubowski /The Republic

White posts act as safety barriers for bike lanes on the southbound side of McClintock Drive near the U.S. 60 in Tempe, Ariz. Tempe added bike lanes and reduced traffic lanes in July 2015. Hundreds of residents have complained about the lanes. They say traffic congestion has increased in the area. David Kadlubowski /The Republic

Bicycle lanes, lined with white barrier poles, on the southbound side of McClintock Drive near U.S. 60 are a point of contention for some Tempe, Ariz., residents. Motorists say the change has worsened traffic congestion on the already busy street. Cyclists say the bike lanes make it safer for people to pedal their way through the city. David Kadlubowski /The Republic

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

However, Tempe faces a similar dilemma as Phoenix with its attempted improvements on McClintock Drive that converted automobile lanes to bicycle-only use. The debate over those improvements continues and will be heard Sept. 7 at the Tempe City Council meeting.

Scottsdale

Scottsdale has 445 miles of bicycle facilities. Of those miles, 86 are bicycle lanes. The city has a gold rating with the League of American Bicyclists.

“We don’t use general funds for our transportation improvements. We have a two-tenths of a percent sales tax for transportation in Scottsdale. I would say out of that we probably use about 20 percent of that for transit, biking, pedestrian and equestrian projects. And then the rest of that local transportation funding goes to street improvements,” says Susan Conklu, a Scottsdale senior transportation planner.

“Years ago, it was no big deal to have a 5-foot sidewalk right against the curb where cars are going 40, 45 (mph). But now, we know you really need to have a more functional sidewalk that is set away from the curb.”

Susan Conklu, a Scottsdale senior transportation planner

“All of our bike lanes are still the standard kind, which is the 8-inch single, white stripe,” Conklu says, noting that the city is just beginning to experiment with buffered bike lanes.

Scottsdale’s bicycle infrastructure will also address the varying needs of different parts of the city.

For example, part of the Arizona Canal path, about 2 miles of path and bridge from Chapparal Road to Indian Bend Wash, was held up to solicit public input on the design, Conklu says.

Building projects will also make an effort to keep residents from being trapped by construction.

And major streets and downtown Scottsdale roads will face retrofitting to make roads more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

“Years ago, it was no big deal to have a 5-foot sidewalk right against the curb where cars are going 40, 45 (mph). But now, we know you really need to have a more functional sidewalk that is set away from the curb," Conklu says. "Now, we want bike lanes, so we are retrofitting roads as we can."

Glendale

Glendale was given an honorable-mention ranking by the League of American Bicyclists in 2014.

Projects in Glendale also rely on federal grants as well as the Glendale Onboard program.

“The GO program is a dedicated half-cent transportation sales tax passed in 2001, and it is perpetual. There is no sunset for it. It’s for a variety of transportation projects in Glendale,” says Stephanie Stearns, Glendale transportation planner.

Glendale recently completed its own shared-use path connecting to the canal system at Grand Canal Linear Park as well as the New River Path.

Glendale seems to be looking at more bike lanes on streets.

“The priority, I would say, is adding more to the on-street facilities. We have a pretty good network along with our neighboring cities of recreational trails and pathways, which is great,” Stearns says. “But, we also want to focus on putting infrastructure on the street so that people can not just go out for a nice ride on the weekend but can ride to and from work and school or whatever errands they have.”

Drivers' attitudes and bikers' safety

Although some fear that retrofitting roads for bike infrastructure will increase congestion, Amelia Neptune, director of the Bike Friendly America program for the League of American Bicyclists, argues that the effect will be just the opposite.

“You can fit a whole lot more people if you create safe, welcoming places to ride bikes," Neptune says. "You’re going to get more people out of their cars, and that’s actually much better for improving congestion and removing vehicles from the road.”

Justin Bush is general manager of the Velo bicycle store and cafe in downtown Phoenix. Cities are looking at ways to make streets safer for bicyclists.(Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic)

But what if the bicycle infrastructure is limited because there just aren't a lot of bike riders?

“There’s been research that about 60 percent of the population are in what we call the interested but concerned category where they would ride a bike if it felt safer, if they knew there would be good bike parking when they arrive at their destinations, if they knew they had a safe way both as far as infrastructure and as far as things like street harassment," Neptune says. "There are a lot of different considerations for why someone decides or not to ride a bike.”

Beane agrees. “If the infrastructure is such that people don’t feel safe and the driver attitudes are such that people don’t feel safe, a lot of people are not going to ride their bike.”

But perhaps most infuriating to Beane is the argument that bicyclists do not pay their fair share.

“Gasoline taxes pay for roughly half of roadway construction and maintenance. The rest is paid for by income taxes, property taxes, development fees and other sources of revenue,” Beane says. “So me as a driver and bicyclist, I am paying a lot of taxes for motor-vehicle accommodation, and I am also paying taxes, a small share of which I hope goes to accommodating bicyclists.”

Groups like Beane’s and Neptune’s as well as local advocacy groups such as the Phoenix Spokes People and the Tempe Bicycle Action Group hope to continue to educate people about these issues as the communities across the Valley work to implement their transportation plans.